Lamp-extinguisher



(No Model.)

B D STEVENS LAMP EXTINGUISHER.

No. 403,896. Patented May 21 1889.

UNITED STATES l PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN D. STEVENS, OF BURLINGTON, VERMONT.

LAMP-EXTINGUISHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,896, dated May 21, 1889.

Application filed March 26, 1888.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, BENJAMIN D. STEVENS, of Burlington,in the county of Chittenden, State of Vermont, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Lamp-Extinguishers, of which the following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view, partly in section, showing a railway-car provided with my improvement; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section on line a: a: in Fig. l; Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section on line y y in Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 a side elevation of the lamp detached.

Like letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different- Yfigpres of the drawings.

My invention relates to that class of lampextinguish'ers which are employed for extinguishing the lamps in railway-cars to prevent the burning of the. cars in case of an accident; and it consists in certain novel features, as hereinafter fully set forth and claimed, the object being to produce a simpler, cheaper, and more effective device of this character than is now in ordinary use.

The nature and operation of the improvement will be readily understood by all conversant with such matters from the following explanation. 9

In the drawings, A represents the railwaycar, and B the lamp, both of which are of the ordinary form and construction, excepting as hereinafter specified, the lamp being secured,

in the usual manner, in the upper portion or monitor of the body of the car, although, if preferred, it may be placed in any other suitable position.

A horizontally-arranged cord, O, is secured to a spring, D, which is attached to an end wall, t, of the car and extends to an opposite end wall, 7', where it passes around guidepulleys m o and is carried back to the wall t, where it passes over a pulley, w, and is secured to a gravitative weight or ball, E. This ball is placed in a shallow dish-shaped rest or stand, b, which may be mounted on any I convenient support, in the present instance Serial No. 268,487. (No model.)

is fitted to slide in such a manner that when l raised above the tube the iiame of the lamp will be extinguished.

A horizontally-arranged lever, f, is pivoted at c' to the lamp, one of its ends being fitted to work between laterally-projecting pins 7i on the sleeve d, and the other provided with a weight, z. A chain, H, has one of its ends secured to the end of the lever f, as shown at 44, (see Fig. 4,) and the other to the cord C adjacent to the lamp B, as shown at 45, (see Figs. 1, 2, and 3,) said chain passing over a pulley, 47, secured to the upper portion of the car, and being held taut when the cord O is in its normal position, and permitted to slack, as shown by the dotted lines 49, when the ball E drops and pulls on said cord, as hereinafter described. A short cord, J, is connected with the cord O at 50 and passes over a pulley, 54, on the end wall, r, said short cord serving as a pull by which the cord O may be actuated independently of the ball E. A guard-chain, g, connected with the wall t is secured to the ball E, and serves to prevent the ball from falling to the floor or dropping onto the heads of the passengers when dislodged from the stand b. The guard-chain is of sufficient length to remain slack when the ball is in the stand Z), and hence does not prevent the ball from falling from the stand in case of an accident to the car.

In the use of my improvement, when the car is accidentally overturned or partially overturned, the ball E will be thrown from the stand b and caused to pull on the cord C and slacken the chain H, thereby permitting the weight z on the lever f to drop and force the sleeve d upward over the wick-tube 7c and extinguish the lamp, in a manner that will be readily understood by all conversant with such matters without a more explicit description.

lrVhen the ball E is dislodged from its stand IOO b and pulls on the cord C, the spring D yields, as shown by the dotted lines 65, thus permitting said cord to be drawn in the direction ofl its arrows and the tension removed from the chain H, which thereupon drops into the position shown by the dotted lines 49, where! upon the gravitative weightz forces the tube d upward over the wick-tube and exi in guishes the flame.

The chain H should be secured to the cord C at a point between the spring D and lamp B, in order that the tension on the chain may be removed when the cord is pulled by the ball E.

It will be understood that the cord C is of such length that it will remain taut when attached to the ball E and said ball is in the stand b without causing the spring D to yield but slightly.

The object in carrying the cord C around the pulleys m u and returning it to the wall t is to enable it to be connected by a chain, H-, with a lamp at the opposite side `of the car.

In the drawings but one lamp is shown; but it will be understood that all of the lamps in the car are to be connected by chains H to the cord C in substantially the same vmanner as described for the lamp B; also, that two or more cords C, each provided with a ball E, supported on a stand b, may be employed, if found necessary, without departing' from the spirit of my invention.

Instead of the spring D, a ball of less weight than the ball E may be employed, the end of the cord represented as attached to the spring being in that case elongated and carried o ver a suitable pulley near the wall t y to render it operative.

I do not confine myself to the use of the chains H, as cords or Wires may be substituted therefor; neither doI confine myself to mounting the weight .e on the lever f, as it may be placed in any other suitable vpositionto perbe moved longitudinally in suitable bearings and connected with a chain or chains H and the ball E.

By pulling on the cord J the cord C may be actuated and all of the lamps in the car extinguished simultaneously without dislodging the ball E; but the pulley 54 for said cord may be omitted, if desired. The pulley 47 may also be omitted in some instances.l

The chain H is provided with a hook, 62, for securing it to the lever f, thus rendering it readily detachable from said lever when necessary to remove the lamp.

Having thus explained my invention, "what I claim is- A 1. In a device for extinguishing lamps in a railway-car, the combination of the following instrumentalities, to wit a lamp disposed Withinsaid car and provided with an extinguisher proper, a cord mounted adjacent to said lamp, a tension-spring connected with said cord, a chain connecting said cord with the extinguisher proper of the lamp, a weight for actuating the extinguisher proper when said chain is slackened, and a pull connected with said cord, whereby the cord may be moved to slacken the chain and extinguish the lamp, substantially as described.

2. In a device for extinguishing lamps in a railway-car, the combination of the following instrumentalities, to wit: a lamp disposed within said car and provided vwith an extin. guisher proper, a cord mounted adjacent to said lamp, a tension-spring connected with said cord, a gravitative bail connected with said cord, a stand or support vfor said' ball, from which it may be dislodged by the overturning or partial overturning of the car, a chain connecting said cord with the extinguisher proper of the lamp, a weight for actuating the extinguisher proper when said chain is slackened, and a guide pulley or pulleys for the cord, substantially as set forth.

3. In a device for extinguishing the lamps in a railWay-car,the cord C, spring D, pulleys roo fml fo w, ball E, stand b, lamp B, provided with the pivoted lever f and sleeve d, weight s, for actuating said lever, and the chain H, connecting said lever and the cord C, combined and arranged to operate substantially las set forth. Y

BENJAMIN D. STEVENS. Witnesses:

C. A. SHAW,

O. M. SHAW.

ff.. l 

